Combination reaction chamber and scrubber



Nov. 27, 1934. E. WjBEARDSLEY COMBINATION REACTION' CHAMBER AND SCRUBBER 2 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed Jan, 50, 1931 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Nov. 27, 1934. E. w. BEARDSLEY 1,981,852

COMBINATION REACTION CHAMBER AND S'CRUBBER Fild Jan. 50, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I w INVENTOR B Y W ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 27, 1934 V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINATION REACTION CHALIBER AND SCRUBBER Edwin W. Beardsley, Los Angcles, Calif., assignor to Petroleum Conversion Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 30,

1931, Serial No. 512,270

6 Claims. (Cl. 196-456) the products of the reaction and strip from them of the heated oil flashes into vapor.

free carbon which is carried. in suspension. In the system of conversion to which my invention has'been applied, heat. for the conversion reaction is furnished by and the reaction takes place in the presence of a neutral heat-carrier gas. Prior to my invention it has been the practice to provide separate chambers for containing the mixture of hydrocarbon material undergoing reaction and the carrier gas and for carrying out the scrubbing of the converted products. These chambers were connected by a pipe which was made as short as possible. The connections of this pipe to the chambers mentioned were difficult to keep gas tight at the temperatures involved which are in excess of 900 F. Furthermore, it was usually necessary to employ a scraping device to maintain this pipe free of carbon.

According to my present invention, the reaction chamber and scrubber comprise a single unitary apparatus in which the .twov chambers are separated merely by a partition. By virtue of this construction, the connecting pipe with the neces-,

sity of gas tight joints between the two chamhers is eliminated. It is also a feature of the invention to so devise the scrubbing chamber that the flow of the gas and vapor products is countercurrent to that of the scrubbing medium. A further feature is. to provide improved contact of gas to liquid within the scrubbing chamber.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows, in elevation with parts in section, part of an oil conversion system in which my improved device is employed;

' Figure 2 is a view on a larger scale of a vertical section of an illustrative embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 3 is a view in vertical section of a modification.

In order that the system of oil conversion to which my invention has particular application may be understood, reference is had to Figure 1, in which 10 denotes a regenerative heater of the hot blast stove type which is used to furnish a supply of heat-carrier gas at the desired temperature. Assuming that the stove has previously been heated up by the combustion of fuel'therein and is now in that part of the cycle termed blast, heat-carrier gas is admitted to the stove through the pipe 12 and leaves the stove in heated condition through pipe 14 through which it travels to reaction chamber 16. a At the same time oil to be converted passes into the apparatus shown through pipe 20 leading into heating coil 21, and thence to a flash drum 23 wherein a part The vapor produced in the drum 23 is led therefrom through pipe 24 and is superheated in coil 26. In this superheating step, care is taken that the velocity of the oil through the superheater is sufiicient to prevent the cracking from taking place in the coil.

The superheated vapor leaves the superheater through pipe 30 and through it is conducted into reaction chamber 16. Simultaneously with the admission of the oil vapor through pipe 30, heatcarrier gas is admitted through pipe 14. In the embodiment shown, the inlet of pipe 30 is concentric with that of pipe 14 although this particular constructiorr while advantageous is not essential, provided both gas and oil vapor are admitted to the same end of the reaction chamber.

Having reference to the construction of the combined reaction and scrubbing chambers, it

will be noted that a single unitary vessel or chamber 40 is provided consisting preferably of a steel shell 41, as shown, containing a refractory lining 42. A partition of refractory material 44 divides the vessel into a reactionchamber 16 and scrubbing chamber 46. An exit pipe 48 from the reaction chamber leads the products therefrom into the lower portion of the scrubber 46. This construction enables-the gas and vapor products to flow upwardly around the pipe 48. A pipe 50 is provided for admitting scrubbing liquid, preferably a hydrocarbon liquid constituting the charging stock, at the top of the chamber 46, this liquid passing downward by gravity in countercurrent to the ascending vapors and gases. In this manner a high efficiency of heat interchange between gas and liquid is had. Preferably, means are provided to afford a large surface over which the gas and liquid may contact and in the present embodiment Ihave provided short pieces of hollow tile 7 arranged at intervals in layers 54 throughout the scrubbing area. In the embodiment shown, six such layers are employed in separated groups of two each although the precise arrangement of this filling material and the amount used is optional.

The scrubbed products leave the apparatus bing medium leaves through pipe 58. Manholes are provided at intervals for the purpose of affording access to the scrubbing chamber for the'purpose of cleaning.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification in which the reaction chamber 40' has the bottom thereof 44' integral with the sides. This reaction chamber which communicates with the scrubbing chamber 46 through duct 48' is supported by means of a framework of suitable construction. In this manner the weight of the chamber 40' does not have to be borne by the scrubbing chamber 46'.

I wish it understood that the embodiments described in detail are illustrative only and that various changes may be made as will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims. It will be obvious that my improved apparatus is not limited to the form of process which has been described but it is applicable to any vapor phase process in which the reacting materials may be introduced into a non-extemally heated chamber.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for converting hydrocarbons in the vapor phase, a closed vessel, an apertured partition in said vessel dividing same into a reaction chamber and a scrubbing chamber, said reaction chamber being refractory lined and of suflicient length to permit a completed vapor phase reaction to occur therein at a temperature not substantially in exces of 1,000 F., an inlet for hot heat-carrier gas, an inlet for hydrocarbon vapor to be converted, means for admitting a scrubbing liquid to said scrubbing chamber, an outlet for said liquid and an outlet for said scrubbed fluids, said apertured partition affording communication between said chambers whereby the mixture of converted vapors and gas can pass from the reaction chamber to the scrubbing chamber.

2. In an apparatus for converting hydrocarbons in the vapor phase, a closed vessel, an apertured partition in said vessel dividing same into a vertically disposed reaction chamber and a scrubbing chamber, a refractory lining for said reaction chamber, an inlet for hot heat-carrier gas, an inlet for hydrocarbon vapor to be converted, means for admitting a scrubbing liquid to said scrubbing chamber, an outlet for said liquid and an outlet for said scrubbed fluids, said apertured partition aflording communication between said chambers whereby the mixture of converted vapors and gas can pass from the reaction chamber to the scrubbing chambe 3. In an apparatus for converting hydrocarbons in the vapor phase, a closed vessel, an apertured partition dividing same into-a vertically disposed reaction chamber and a scrubbing chamber, said reaction chamber being refractory lined and of suflicient length to permit a completed vapor phase reaction to occur therein at a temperature not substantially in excess of 1,000" R, an inlet for hot heat-carrier gas, an inlet for hydrocarbon vapor to be converted, means for admitting a scrubbing liquid to said scrubbing chamber, an outlet for said liquid and an outlet for said scrubbed fluids, said apertured partition affording communication between said chambers where by the mixture of converted vapors and gas can pass from the reaction chamber to the scrubbing chamber.

4. In an apparatus for converting hydrocarbon oils in the vapor phase by the agency of heated heat-carrier gas, a vertically disposed closed vessel, a partition in said vessel dividing same into an upper reaction chamber and a lower scrubbing chamber, said reaction chamber being provided at the top thereof with an inlet for hydrocarbon vapor to be converted and an inlet for said heated heat-carrier gas, means for admitting into the scrubbing chamber a scrubbing liq- I uid, an outlet for said scrubbing liquid and an outlet for the scrubbed fluids, said scrubbing chamber being of lesser cross sectional area than said reaction chamber, and means for conduct- .ing the mixture of 'c'onvertedvapor and gas from the reaction chamber to the scrubbing chamber,

and a support for the combined chambers ex-' tending from the ground to the said upper chamber.

5. In an apparatus for converting hydrocarbon oils in the vapor phase by the agency of heated heat-carrier gas, a vertically disposed closed vessel, a partition in said vessel dividing same into an upper reaction chamber and a lower scrubbing chamber, said reaction chamber being provided at the top thereof with an inlet for hydrocarbon vapor to be converted and an inlet for said heat-carrier gas, means for admitting to said scrubbing chamber adjacent the top thereof a scrubbing liquid, and means for admitting to the scrubbing chamber near the bottom thereof the mixture of converted vapor and gas from said reaction chamber, and an outlet for the scrubbed mixture also adjacent the top of the scrubbing chamber.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4 in which union of the said chambers.

EDWIN W. BEARDSLEY. 

